FlipFlop
by Dragonll237
Summary: They just wanted a normal day in Fairy Tail. Turns out that's too much to ask for as they are sent to a future timeline. Will they get back? Or will they just have to live in the future?
1. Chapter 1

**Flip Flop**

 **Fairy Tail Fanfiction**

 _ **By: Dragonll237**_

Summary: They just wanted a normal day in Fairy Tail. Turns out that's too much to ask for as they are sent to a future timeline. Will they get back? Or will they just have to live in the future?

 **~~~Chapter 1~~~**

It has been not even a week since the Grand Magic Games and things still hadn't settled down from the dragon fight. Fairy Tail was as lively as ever from celebrating our victories. If we could just settle down, that'd be great. I couldn't even tell you how many brawls I've been dragged into.

I sighed and rested my head on the bar table, staring at the glass of ice water next to my head. Mira chuckled from behind the bar and stated how bored I looked. Well, I was. Bored of the fights going on constantly. Usually I'd be the one to start it with Natsu, but this was just out of hand. Isn't much better with Erza in on the brawls instead of stopping them.

"Is Gray-sama alright?"

Only one person could have asked me that: Juvia. I picked up my head to look at her. My lips picked up a bit. She had declared that she would try even harder this age, and I said I would tell her off directly this time. However, I don't think I'll really ever have the guts to.

"Yeah, never thought I'd ever say this, but: there are too many brawls," I answered.

Juvia nodded in agreement then took the stool to my left. She then suggested, "Maybe, you want to take a job request? It could get us away for a while."

Maybe she would have ideas of us being alone together. But she didn't say it like that. See, I don't have the heart to just turn her down…

"Yeah, sure, you wanna pick one out?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter to Juvia," she replied.

"Alright, let's go check out the board," I suggested, picking myself up off the bar stool.

I trotted over to the board with Juvia right on my heals. My only hope was that Erza didn't have a similar idea and take us on a job. That would only mean more brawls with Salamander and Titania. There were a few on the board that were actually interesting, but they either seemed too long or too short.

Juvia pulled one off to inspect it closer and it seemed to be easy enough. The location was actually close to Lamia Scale so we could drop by to see Lyon when we return home. It was some search mission for a guy that went hiking then never returned. Probably was caught by some Volkans.

We took the paper up to the bar and told Mira that we were taking the job. After a quick pack, we met up in the train station. It was just after noon so the second batch of trains were about to set off for their destinations and we didn't have to worry about waiting for long. The ride went well and we made it to the town in record time. We went straight to the client's place to gather information on our mission.

The client informed, "Michael was last seen a week ago, heading up to the falls. He has a cabin up in that area and he goes up every year to clean it. Katie, his wife, said he was just going up for three days, but when he never came back she got worried. I'm a friend of theirs and I truly just hope that Michael is alright."

"What was he wearing? Or carrying?" Juvia asked.

"He was just wearing his old green hiking pants and red rain coat. He had some equipment for the cabin in a brown duffle bag. He was carrying light," the client answered.

"What about food? Volkans could have attacked him," I added.

The client replied, "Just some sandwiches and a few water bottles."

"Thank you, we'll head out tomorrow. You said he was headed towards some falls? Would you have a map so we can track where we searched?" Juvia asked.

"Yes, of course!" the client exclaimed as he jumped over to a desk and pulled out a map of the woods and handed it to her.

"His cabin is labeled, along with the falls. Oh, I hope you find him. It would mean the world to Katie and me," the client stated.

"We'll do our best, sir," I said, and Juvia and I departed for an Inn.

Night came and went. We set off first thing in the morning into the woods. We weren't trying to be rushed, but it turned into that as we raced down the forest path towards the cabin near the falls. We found no signs of struggle nor of Volkans on our travels. In no time we made it to the cabin, but there was no sight of the man we were looking for. The cabin doors were open, and it looked like the guy was there at one point but then he just disappeared.

"Juvia will check the upstairs," Juvia suggested as she walked towards the wooden staircase in the center of the cabin.

"Alright, I'll look around outside for any signs of him," I said as I went for the door.

I walked around the house twice before noticing a flash of color underneath a bunch of leaves. I picked away the leaves to find the red rain coat of the man. My eyes narrowed at the fact that he probably didn't leave his jacket outside on purpose. I looked carefully at my surroundings and noticed the fire lacrima was still on in the grill, and still glowing strong. The man mustn't have left too long ago.

I retreated back inside to ask Juvia of her finds. It was a mysterious disappearance. There was no struggle signs anywhere to show that he was captured or anything. The man just disappeared. Volkans were out of the picture because they weren't smart enough to not leave a trail behind and we saw no signs of the ape-like creatures on our route up to the cabin.

"Oi, Juvia, you find anything?" I asked as I climbed the stair case.

"Not much, just some fresh sheets and a wind lacrima still on," she answered as she exited what looked to be the master bed.

I nodded and stated, "There was a fire lacrima outside on as well. His jacket was covered by leaves. Where do you think he could have gone? He couldn't have been captured, could he?"

She thought and replied, "Not sure, but Juvia hopes we find Michael. Katie is waiting for her husband to come home."

"Agreed," I sighed. "So, what now? We don't have Natsu to track the guy's scent."

"Juvia can work around that. It's safe to say that he was outside last so we should start from there. Juvia's been on other tracking missions before," she reassured with a cunning smirk before she disappeared down the stairs.

She deduced that the guy we were looking for was going to cook up something and traveled to the kitchen to find the meat he was going to cook laying on the counter of the island. The back door was connected to the kitchen so we wandered outside to see a path or something that the man could have taken to check out something he saw in the open fields behind the cabin. I had noticed a path that lead through the wall of the property out into the fields before when I walked around and we wandered out into the open. The path was just large enough for a fun magicmobile and was ridden over many times.

"Think he saw something and rode after it on his magicmobile?" I asked.

"Maybe, why else would he leave behind his meat with everything still on in the cabin?" Juvia returned.

We continued to walk down the trail. It wasn't long before she spotted something in the distance and we ran towards it. A magicmobile was crashed against a large boulder. By the look of the tire marks, the driver was spooked by something and weaved around something before flipping over. There was no blood, nor body of the driver.

"This crap just gets creepier and creepier," I stated and Juvia nodded in agreement. Something wasn't right with this. "The driver should have at least broken something from a crash like this. And what did he swerve from? He didn't hit whatever was in front of him, apparently, because there's also nothing showing that he did."

Juvia asked, "You think it was an animal, or something supernatural?"

I answered, "Not sure, but I doubt that an animal could have survived and the driver got away okay. Something fishy's goin' on here, and I don't like it."

We looked around the area for any signs of what happened to the driver and Juvia pointed out, "Hey, Gray-sama, is that a building in the distance? You think it's possible that he went there? Maybe someone captured him and took him there?"

"Only one way to find out, I suppose," I responded and we made our way up the hills to the dark, old, wooden cabin in the distance.

The building was worn down and looked to be burnt down many years ago. The roof was caving in and the wood was all covered in black soot or charred. My gut told me that something wasn't going to be good. I hate when it does that, because more times than not it's right. There was little choice, we had to find this guy and he could be in the creepy burnt cabin.

I carefully opened the old, falling apart, rusted over door. Inside there was a lot of dust collected, though there were many openings to the outside. There was little to no furniture, but from the looks of it, the cabin was more of a home than a vacation spot. Broken picture frames, cracked glass vases, scattered pots and pans, tipped over tables and chairs, tattered and burnt curtains and blankets. A couch was turned into a base board with springs and burnt chars with little fabric and cushioning left.

"This is terrible," Juvia announced as she looked upon the destruction.

"This is old, so the guy we're looking for couldn't have possibly gotten caught in this. Come on, we need to search this place for him," I declared, getting back on task.

The destruction was too much. We had encountered many abandoned or battle beaten lands and houses. But for some reason, this creepy house brought back bad memories. My parents' memories. Deliora destroyed my home and killed my parents, flames engulfed the town as he reigned devastation down on my home. And again with Ur, when my teacher protected me from killing myself by taking her own life to Deliora's hands. Chars were extinguished flames that connect to the killing of many people.

"It isn't safe here," I declared halting my search around the destruction. We had to get out before something bad happened.

"Eh?" Juvia questioned as I grabbed her hand and head for a sprint at the door. We were almost out when the door closed on its own to lock us inside. I slammed at it, but it was no use. Though the door could fall apart at any moment, it wouldn't budge. There was magic enforcing it to stay closed.

"Trapped, damnit," I cussed under my breath and looked wildly around the cabin for a sign of the trapper or an escape route.

A creaking of the floor boards from the kitchen area caught my attention and out of instinct I pulled Juvia behind me and took a defensive stance. There was a glow of some sort coming from the doorway. Great, there were ghosts?! I didn't sign up for this! Our first master, Mavis, was enough!

There was a shredded white dress in the doorway, and pale white skin of a hand wrapped around the door frame. The rest of the body slowly followed to show its entire form. A pale white girl with similar white hair stood in front of us. Her eyelids were closed, and I couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing.

Juvia walked out from behind me. I grabbed her arm and tugged her back, but it was too late. The girl opened her eyes and a field of white light filtered into the house, blinding us. It wasn't long before I blacked out…


	2. Chapter 2

**~~~Chapter 2~~~**

( _AN: Gruvia for the win. More shipments are coming our way in Chapter 2. Don't get your hopes up that this story will be uploaded as often, because I only had written the first chapter before posting unlike most of my other fanfictions that are currently being worked on and the already posted fanfictions. Well, this Author's Note is getting long, so quick thanks to my reviewers and followers and favoriters and now let's get on with the story! ~Dragon_ )

I came to in what seemed to be a warm and comfortable bed. I blinked to look at my new surroundings. I removed my arms groggily from whatever I was holding and sat up. My eyes finally adjusted to the light in the room. It was a master bedroom that was super clean and organized. I looked down at myself to notice that I wasn't wearing anything but boxers in bed, which wasn't abnormal for me but for passing out at a haunted house it still caught my attention. Hell, at least I was still wearing _something_.

Movement in the room caught my attention; or rather, movement in the _bed_ caught my attention. I quickly looked over to notice familiar blue hair not even three inches away. I didn't have to even double take to know exactly who the culprit was. _Oh God!_ And my arms were… _Oh God!_ The breath got caught in my throat as I struggled with getting out of the bed. My body froze when I saw her lift up her head and look at me, eyes focusing in the dim light of the room.

"Gray-sama? What… Where…?" she questioned, unable to form words.

She sat up and looked around at our new location. My cheeks grew hotter than I would like to admit at the lack of clothing we both had and our predicament. Her thin, blue bra left little to the imagination. Thankfully I was able to draw my eyes away by the time she looked back to me in realization of the situation we were in. She pulled the sheets up over herself in embarrassment. I took a deep breath to cool my steaming face and get my thoughts together.

"What happened, Gray-sama?" Juvia asked with a small voice.

"I don't know," I croaked, then I remembered something. "I-I think… This is… We… We shouldn't be here. At least, not now."

She seemed to have the same realization as I did and announced with a gasp, "Is… Is this… Our home?!"

I gulped and walked over to a calendar on the wall and looked at it. There was no way that it could have been four years into the future, could it? That's what the calendar said, but there was no way. How could it be August x795?! It was July x791 the last time I checked! I looked over the month and noticed one in particular with multiple squiggles over it… _**WHAT**_?! No! Nope! There was no way in Hell! Either I was insane or the date circled was labeled 'Our Wedding Day'!

My legs felt like jelly as I stumbled over to keep myself up by leaning on the wall. My voice was barely a whisper to say, "We're… In the future…"

"What? But… How could that be?" she questioned.

"I… We… Oh _God_!" was all that I could say as I sunk down to sit against the wall.

"Juvia… Juvia thinks the spirit sent us here," she suggested. "Gray-sama?"

I didn't move from my spot, staring at the wall in front of me. It was as if the memories from the missing four years were slowly filtering in. It was as if there were bits and pieces to a large puzzle that were slowly being put together. Juvia and I have been dating for three freaking years! I had agreed to get married to her and it was next week! We missed four years of our lives to come to this?!

"Gray-sama!" Juvia caught my attention and I looked to her. Thankfully she put on one of my shirts that looked more like a dress on her. "Are you alright? Talk to Juvia."

"Yeah, just… Taking it all in," I finally answered.

She helped me get up off the floor and asked, "You mind if Juvia contacts Gajeel-kun and tell him what happened?"

I shook my head and questioned, "What _did_ happen?"

"Juvia's unsure herself," she relied and walked over to a small rectangle on a desk and picked it up. Apparently it was a communications lacrima. "Gajeel-kun? It's Juvia. You have a few?"

I walked up and heard Gajeel's groggy morning voice threw the lacrima, "What? Why're ya callin' this early? Can't it wait 'till eight?"

"No, Gajeel-kun. It's important. Please," Juvia pleaded.

There was the sound of a door closing and Gajeel answered with a sigh, "Fine, Rain Drop. What is it? This better not be some jitters or whatever like last time."

"It's not. We're in kind of a predicament, here," Juvia began.

"Predicament how?" Gajeel asked.

Juvia sighed and announced, "We were sent into the future. This future. But somehow we have memories from this time. Gajeel-kun, you have to help us find a way to reverse whatever happened to us."

There was silence on the other end, then Gajeel finally said, "Levy and I'll be over as soon as we can, so don't go anywhere."

The line cut off as he hung up. Juvia set the small rectangular lacrima down on the desk and looked to me. She gave a reassuring smile saying that everything was going to turn out okay. I don't know how she does it, but something about the smile made me believe her. It wasn't like we died and couldn't get back. We were sent into another Tenrou situation. Worse comes to worse we'll just have to live in the future… Right?

"Juvia won't let this pull us down, so she's going to go make some breakfast," she declared and wandered out of the bedroom door.

I pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and followed her out into the kitchen area. It felt so strange that everything felt so familiar. Every room was new, yet I knew every detail. I took my time to walk through the living room as my eyes passed all of the paintings in frames. One was of when we were at the beach with our friends, sharing ice cream. Juvia had her ice cream all over her nose and we were all laughing, having a great time. Another one was of Juvia, me, Natsu, Lucy, Gajeel, and Levy all sitting at a table in the guildhall raising our cups in the air. It all came back as a memory, but it's not as satisfying since we didn't actually live it.

Sighing, I walked into the kitchen to watch Juvia busying herself with making egg omelets. My face grew hot as I watched her and realized that she was wearing one of my shirts. The shirt was just long enough to cover her bottom, but her legs were completely uncovered. Whenever she bent over, her underwear would peak out from underneath the long t.

It took all of my will power to advert my eyes and clear my throat to get her attention. I announced, "Look, I appreciate that you're makin' breakfast and all, but you should really get changed."

Thankfully she agreed and padded back to the bedroom for more _appropriate_ clothing. I took a seat in one of the dining table chairs and contemplated over the situation. Somehow our minds from just a week after the Grand Magic Games were transferred into our minds to a week before our marriage. We had limited memories from this time that came when something reminds us of something that happened in the future. There were three questions. How did this happen? Why did this happen? And can we get back to our own time or do we have to live here forever?

Juvia came down wearing her own light blue t-shirt and some gray shorts, short enough to reveal her guildmark but not too short. I inwardly sighed in relief. Gajeel was going to come over and it was best that whenever he did they were presentable at least. Thinking of Gajeel, didn't he say that he and Levy would make it over? I couldn't remember much about the iron dragon slayer or script mage. The only person that I could actually remember was really just Natsu. Apparently Natsu and Lucy married last year and was the entire reason why Juvia and I were getting married.

It wasn't long before there was a knock on the front door. Juvia fetched it before I could even walk out of the kitchen. Gajeel entered with a toddler in his arms with violet hair, Levy and Lily following close behind. The puzzle piece clicked: the kid was theirs. They were the first of the bunch to get married. Shotgun wedding, but it was nice all the same. Parenthood suited the two as Levy filled out and Gajeel was a lot less menacing.

"So, what's this all 'bout, Rain Drop?" Gajeel questioned as he put his son down on the ground.

"We need your help. Tenrou Island happened, again. For four years," Juvia answered.

( _AN: Quick thanks to the following:_ _ **Mira D. Blackjack**_ _, , CopDog, ,_ _ **hisuichanxx**_ _, gaara973, claudiacorvo._ )


	3. Chapter 3

**~~~Chapter 3~~~**

( _AN: Welcome to the guildhall everyone! Manga references will come in this story, so be warned. Thanks to my new followers and favoriters! Life found a way to slow me down, but I will not let it take over. I hope for sooner updates in the future, writers-block was a killer. ~Dragon_ )

Levy had a look of surprise and asked, "How? For four years, is that what you said?"

Juvia noded and answered, "We are unsure what caused it, but we were on a mission and passed out to wake up here. But it's weird because we have memories. Certain memories come to us, right Gray-sama?"

"Yeah, but I think we have different set memories. I can remember Natsu, but she can remember you two," I added.

Levy was silent for a few seconds, contemplating the information and said, "I can do some research to see if it can be reversed, but that may take a while. Besides, it may not even be possible. We may have to call off the wedding if you aren't taken back in time…"

I watched Juvia's face pale a little bit at the last sentence and announced, "No, that's a last resort. I don't want to ruin whatever we were going to have."

"Gray-sama," Juvia gasped as my cheeks reddened.

"I'm glad you said that," Levy admitted and picked her son up after he pulled on her shirt. "But, if you live here you should probably get used to our time. It may not be easy. A lot of things have changed in four years. What date was it?"

"The week after the Grand Magic Games of x791," I answered, seeing that Juvia was at a loss of words.

Gajeel stared forward, a shadow under his eyes menacingly, and said, "So, _it_ hasn't happened for you yet."

I blinked confused and asked, "What is _It_?"

Levy waved off the topic with her free hand and said, "Nevermind that, we'll focus on the here and now."

Gajeel growled, "You better not have forgotten what you did. Even if you didn't do it yourself, you better not ever forget what you've done."

"Gajeel! Enough," Levy ordered and the iron dragon slayer shut his mouth and looked away.

I looked confused towards Juvia to see if she remembered whatever Gajeel was going on about. If she did, she didn't say anything. She held a blank face, so it was possible that Gajeel triggered something in her memories. The expression didn't last long as she looked to me and put up that reassuring smile again. On pure instint I smiled back and we turned back to Levy.

"You mind if I call up Hibiki and ask if he can help me research some stuff for you?" Levy asked.

"Please," Juvia agreed as I nodded my head.

Levy smiled in gratitude, set her son on the floor to play with Lily, and took out her own small rectangle communication lacrima from her pocket. She talked into the lacrima, "Hey, Hibiki? … Yeah, it's Levy. We got ourselves a bit of a situation here. … No, nothing like that. Some of our friends had a Tenrou Island incident. … No, they can remember pieces of their future and it's not like their bodies were transferred too. It was just their conscious. … Yeah, thanks so much. … Yeah, that would help. Thanks so much Hibiki. … See ya."

"What did he say?" Juvia asked.

"He's glad to help and he's going to come up to Magnolia as soon as he finishes his job he's on," Levy answered. "We'll see what we can do. I might need to ask Lucy to help too, but I doubt that you want the whole guild to know that you aren't yourselves."

I couldn't help but ask, "Will we be ourselves?"

Levy looked sympathetically and said, "We can only wait and see. For right now, we should probably get you filled in. We should go to the guild, it'd be easier to explain there."

"Come on, Squirt, let's go see if Wendy's at the guildhall," Gajeel said to his son, changing his character completely as he grabbed the boy and put him on his shoulder.

"Wendy!" the boy cooed, clapping his hands together in excitement.

So we left _home_ and head for the guildhall that wasn't a very far walk. The hall changed, meaning it was destroyed at least once to have been rebuilt. It was a little bit smaller than the one we got from the mayor, so the guild members probably had to pay for its construction. On our walk there, Levy instructed to stick together and not to get distracted before we got to our table. It was hard not to join the latest brawl, but I contained myself by sticking to Juvia's side as instructed. We sat at Gajeel's secluded table in the farthest corner possible, it was nice to see that that hasn't changed through the years.

As soon as Gajeel put his son down, the boy raced over to the bar and grabbed anything shiny in his hands. Levy rolled her eyes and went after him, taking the knives out of his hands and scolding, "Chromi, don't eat that. Mira works hard to get those."

"Sowy," the boy apologized and followed his mother back to the table we sat at.

Just like that I remembered Chromium, he was such a nice kid. He looked just like his father, but acted like his mother. Well, most of the time, unless he sees something metal and decides to eat it. The kid loved Wendy as almost a big sister. In addition, Juvia was his Godmother as Jet and Droy shared the position of being his Godfather.

"I remember him now," I announced to the table.

"Chromi-chan?" Juvia questioned and I nodded. "Only now you remember?"

"Yeah, came with the name," I answered.

Levy sighed, "Strange. You had memories of us without being reminded, didn't you Juvia?"

Juvia replied, "Yes. Juvia thinks it's because we're really close, like how Gray-sama and Natsu-san are and Gray-sama can remember him."

"Sup, Ice-Boy," Natsu announced his presence as he draped his arms around Juvia and my shoulders, pulling us closer. My face grew hotter at our closeness but I swallowed it and traded it for rage at the pinkette.

"Not in the mood, Flame-Brain," I growled and removed his arm, shoving him back a bit.

Natsu's look of surprise disappeared in mere seconds as he sat himself down next to me. He questioned, "So, what's so serious?"

I muttered under my breath, "Tenrou happened."

"You… You and… Noway! How?!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Keep it down Fire-Breath!" I yelled, sending him a punch in the forearm for good measure.

"You didn't have to punch me, Icicle. I heard you. What happened?" Natsu whimpered, rubbing his arm.

Levy answered, "See, that's the thing. They have no idea. Hibiki and I are going to be working on it as soon as we can, but for the meantime they have to get used to living here. Who knows, they may just have to stay here forever."

Natsu processed the information with a blink then asked, "Wait, they'll have to stay here? From how far back? Holdon, their wedding's next week!"

"Yeah, we know. And from being transferred from the Grand Magic Games to here, it's not really the easiest of things to wrap your head around," I answered smally as my bangs covered my face.

Realization came across Natsu's face and he cussed. The four years didn't change Natsu much, but he matured a little bit at a time. He at least wasn't clueless whenever something was serious. Well, he never was to be honest but now he didn't act like a maniac trying to escape the guild without a second thought in what to do about the situation. We were a bit closer, I suppose. Enough to at least be able to stand being near each other from time to time.

"So, what are you gonna do 'bout it? Just search if you can get back? What then?" the fire dragon slayer asked.

I shrugged and replied, "Guess we'll call it as it comes. I mean, we have select memories from here, so it's not like it's impossible that we have to stay here. If we go back knowing what the future is like, then who knows what could happen. Yet if we stay…"

Gajeel complained, "Don't be a pain in the ass, Stripper. If you're counting on livin' here, then why have Levy do stuff she doesn't even need to do?"

"It's not like we don't wanna go back," I returned. My gut clenched as Gajeel's eyes narrowed. Something about that told me that would be brought up in the future to bite me.

"Don't tell Lucy, I don't want her to know," Natsu said honestly after a moment of silence at the table as he looked over his shoulder to the blonde girl approaching them. His serious face changed to his foolish grin as Lucy sat down next to him at the table.

"Hey, guys," Lucy greeted with her unchanging smile. It was weird to watch her giggle as Natsu pulled her onto his lap.

We got through the day as if it was any other, hanging out with… So weird to say it… The _Dragneels_. Levy went right into researching and asked for the whole story to be described tomorrow. The future wasn't that bad. Nothing really changed _that_ drastically. Except the fact that Erza was the Master of Fairy Tail and wasn't even at the guild so we couldn't tell her about what happened. Though, for some reason Levy said that we might not want to do that. I didn't really get it, I mean the Master should know these things. Especially if Erza figures out we kept secrets from her… I don't even want to think about the consequences.

We went… _Home_ … For the night and it seemed like everything would be fine that day, even if we were sent into the future… Boy was I wrong…

( _AN: Quick thanks to the following: Cr4z13, kmikaberidze26, LuvsManga, Angela Robin._ )


	4. Chapter 4

**~~~Chapter 4~~~**

( _AN: Okay, so the last chapter was pretty slow, but we have some action in this chapter. Writer's-block just got a hold of me, and I apologize for that. It's gone now! At least, for now anyway. ~Dragon_ )

"We survived day one," I chuckled as I closed the front door behind me. Juvia was a little too quiet and I turned to look at her in concern. She just stared at me with a blank face and I asked, "What? Juvia? What?"

"This is our house," she whispered.

"Yeah," I simply answered.

"Juvia and Gray-sama… _Live_ together…" she continued.

"You should probably sit down," I suggested, pushing her towards the couch in the living room. She seemed to be in some sort of shock. She was fine up until this point, so what went wrong?

She sat and looked at her hands, playing with a band on her finger made of ice. My ice. She whispered something else incoherently, but it didn't take much to realize that she said something about the wedding band. I hadn't noticed earlier but I had my own hanging on my necklace. Come to think of it, I lost my shirt at some point in time during the day.

"Gray-sama?" Juvia questioned and after I answered, she continued, "Is this real? Juvia… Isn't dreaming?"

I grinned at that, of course she would think it was a dream that we were… You know… And returned, "No, it's real."

Realization dawned on her face and she looked up to me. At first I thought that she would have fangirled or tackled me or something, but then her face changed into a frown. I looked confused as she stared at me with narrowing eyes… Did I say something to offend her? Maybe she remembered whatever I did that Gajeel was yelling at me about?

"Did I do something? Why are you mad?" I asked, hoping she would just tell me what I did wrong.

"Nothing," she replied with a pout face, turning her head as she sat back and crossed her arms. If she wasn't mad at me it would've been pretty cute…

"Juvia, come on!" I begged.

She sighed and said in a low voice, "Gray-sama really wants to get back."

I frown and questioned, "Yeah, what about it?"

"Nothing, never mind," she sighed, pulling her body on the couch and into a ball.

"It's not nothing because you're offended somehow. Tell me how," I pleaded.

"You said you wanted to go back there!" she huffed turning her red face towards me.

I said, "Yes, I would like to go back to where we were, but that doesn't mean I don't like it here. If that's what you're on about."

She yelled, straightening herself back out on the couch, "You want to go back so you don't have to marry Juvia!"

"What?" I questioned. Where did she get that from?

"Don't keep telling the others that we'll still go through with it because you don't want to! Juvia won't go through with it if you don't want to admit that you don't want this!" she declared, ripping off the band and throwing it across the room. She stormed away to the bedroom and slammed the door before I could say a word.

This is bad, this is very bad. *I screwed up.* Somehow she thought that I didn't care. *I do.* I have to go talk to her. *I need to find it.* I'll find the ring and give it to her as an apology. *I need her to forgive me.* _Gods_ , she has to forgive me for whatever made her think that I didn't… That I don't… Care.

I scrambled on the floor searching for the ice band. When my hands finally found it, I clutched it tightly and bolted up to the bedroom. My free hand hovered over the doorknob as I stood outside, about to enter. Instead of opening right away, I knocked lightly on the door and asked her if I could come in. She wouldn't let me as she commanded that I stay out.

"Juvia, please. I wanna straighten some things out. If you don't open, then I'm coming in," I announced.

"No, go away. Juvia wants to be alone," she declared on the other side of the door. She muffled a sob in a pillow and I cussed that she was crying.

*Don't let the rain fall.* I have to make her stop crying. *I can't cause her rain any more.* I need her to listen to me. *She has to understand what I meant.* Oh, please make her stop crying!

"I'm coming in," I said as I turned the doorknob and opened it slowly to give her some reaction time.

"No!" she yelled, clutching a pillow to her chest as she sat up on the bed.

Her cheeks were red and her eyes were full of tears. It broke my heart to see her like that. Crying because of me. How much pain have I ever caused her? Is this an example of what Gajeel was yelling at me about? If it was, I would fix it if we were actually able to be sent back.

"Please stop crying," I begged. "I'll tell you everything, just please stop crying."

She shifted on the bed and asked, "What does Gray-sama have to say?"

I took a deep breath and said, "I didn't mean to offend you like that. Look, being four years in the future isn't exactly the easiest thing to get used to. It's only us, unlike Tenrou Island. I'm uncertain about a lot of things right now, but look: I can't just delay our lives just because of some bump in the road. Hell, if we get back then whatever happened to us of this time will still have what they planned to have. I won't take that away, Juvia. Getting freaking married without even considering about dating is a big freaking step. But, it's you, and we'll make it work."

It wasn't really a confession, was it? *I did the right thing.* Even if she's still mad, that has to count for something, right? *She will forgive me; she always does.* Besides, this is Juvia.

I handed her back the ring and said, "Think on it."

She was silent for a few moments as I studied her. I went to step away when she grabbed my arm to stop me. She at least stopped sobbing. I waited for her to say something, turning back to her. Maybe I said something else wrong? She was still quiet with a frown on her face. I didn't like it when she frowned, it looked too much like the Juvia I met on the Phantom Lord Giant. Blank, emotionless, holding her unhappiness.

"Gray-sama, you still don't get it," she finally said. "Juvia doesn't want you to do something you don't want to do. You don't want to marry Juvia. At least not now. You need time. Here you had four years of time, but we didn't."

I muttered, "I swear, you only hear the stupid things that come out of my mouth sometimes."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she questioned.

*I gotta tell her.* Tell her what? *Tell her what she really is.* What is she? *Is the only one worth living for.* Is she? *I can't live without her.* I can't? *I gotta tell her what she means to me.* Like, _confess_ to her? *If I don't, I could lose her.* I could? *What's the worst that can happen if I do?* I have a feeling it'll come back to bite me in the ass later. *Just do it.* Alright, I will.

"Alright, I'll just say it: I want to, Juvia," I responded. Straight forward, I did it.

"Eh?" she blinked. This time she was the one confused.

Of course I'd have to repeat myself, "I want to go through with the marriage, Juvia."

She sat there, processing what I said. She had released the pillow in her clutch, so she calmed down. It was silent, so it wasn't raining. She wasn't mad or upset.

"We can talk more about this in the morning, okay? You sleep here, I'll take the couch. It was a long day," I said, ruffling her hair and nonchalantly wiping away her unshed tears. I took my leave and shut the door behind me, ignoring her complaints.

I collapsed on the couch. It really was a long day. We were transported into the future _somehow_. Discover our lives and our friends' lives. Plus the emotional breakdown, or whatever that was.

Tomorrow's a new day. *I will tell her everything in the morning.* And once that's settled then I'll have to talk to Levy about this voice in my head. *Because I find that it is very pursuasive.* A little too pursuasive. *Though it gives me good tips and ideas to help.* Yet is very annoying when I try to think for myself.

( _AN: Quick thanks to the following:_ _ **SmileyFace207**_ _._ )


	5. Chapter 5

**~~~Chapter 5~~~**

( _AN: Gray's thinking patterns are strange. Don't worry, it will all be explained… In this chapter, so you don't have to wait much longer! Sadly, this chapter has a bit more writer's-block problems, but I'm pushing through. ~Dragon_ )

I groggily removed myself from the couch in the morning to be greeted by the smell of breakfast. It didn't take long for me to find the kitchen. If Juvia was still angry at me, she sure didn't show it. Though I got Hell for sleeping on the couch, she seemed content with everything else. I was glad, I didn't want her to be mad or upset.

Juvia broke the silence with, "Did Gray-sama really mean it?"

I didn't want to crush her heart. *Not again.* So it was best to say "Yes". *It's the truth.* Seriously, what is it with this second voice in my head?! *Just listen.* Fine.

I took a breath and admitted, "Yeah."

She replied, "Juvia doesn't want Gray-sama to do something because he feels like he has to for the future's sake, or for Juvia. She'll understand, and it won't change anything."

Stupid girl. If I said "No", it would change everything. Hell, Gajeel would probably hunt me down at night and slit my throat! I'd never hear the end of it from Natsu. Lucy and Erza would never stop bickering about it. And worse of all, Juvia would probably sink down into some hole or something and be depressed. I could never do that to her.

"Juvia, I told you how many times now: Yes," I stressed. "Now, come on. We said we'd be at the guildhall by now."

The topic finally dropped, and I hoped that it wouldn't come up again. Only Gajeel, Levy, and Natsu knew about the situation anyway so even if I did say "No" then the whole guild would be on our tails and I was not looking forward to that. The second voice in my head helped, I guess. Hell, if we were back home, I wouldn't have the balls to even ask Juvia on a date let alone going on one.

As soon as we got to the guild, Juvia busied herself with playing with Chromium, Natsu, Lucy, and Gajeel. I asked Gajeel where Levy was, found out she was in the library, and head down to meet her. She needed all the details in order to figure stuff out and before it was just bland info for her to go off on. Juvia would be busy in the dining hall for quite some time, so it was just Levy and me.

"Oi, Levy," I called as I walked up to her desk in the middle of stacks of books around her. Never changes, though the library looks a bit bigger.

"Hey, Gray," she greeted, looking over her shoulder then looking back to her research.

"If this is too much trouble, you don't have to do this," I said, catching her by surprise.

"What changed your mind?" she asked.

"It's not that, it's just if it turns out impossible to get back then you wasted so much time and effort for us. Besides, I don't think Juvia wants to go back," I answered.

She smiled and shook her head, "Are you really Gray from the Grand Magic Games? Because I'm really doubting that that Gray would be so okay with the fact that you and Juvia are getting married in a week."

I tched at that. It was true though. I wasn't myself. It was that second voice in my head. It took over me somehow, or something. Whatever it was, it ticked me off that it had such a strong effect on me. Even Levy noticed it.

I said, "Must be the second voice in my head. It keep telling me what to do and think."

"How so? When did it happen?" Levy questioned, standing up from her chair to study me.

I took a deep breath and told her the story, "Juvia had some emotional breakdown last night. She was mad at me for some reason, thinking that since it took four years here for us to get married that for some reason I just wanted to get it over with because I didn't want to screw with the future or whatever. The voice told me to say that I actually want to."

Levy asked, "Do you?"

"See, that's the thing. I don't even know anymore. It's like I can't tell if I'm actually thinking or if it's that second voice or whatever it is," I answered.

"You think it's possible that your conscious from this time is trying to speak to you? Maybe that's what the second voice is?" Levy suggested.

I blinked and said, "Yeah, I guess. You think that since there's this world's influence on us it'll change anything about going back?"

Levy shrugged, "Only research can find that out. You want to continue with it?"

"Yeah," I answered. "Don't tell Juvia about the second voice thing. She'd probably have some way to turn it around saything that I don't like her or something stupid like that."

"Well, okay. She might have the same thing happening to her too, just so you know. I won't bring it up, but you can't ignore it, Gray," Levy stated.

I sighed, "Yeah."

Levy nodded and rested her hand reassuringly on my shoulder, "Hibiki is coming in two days. We'll hopefully have this whole situation documented and researched by the end of the week. Hopefully before the wedding. Now, could you tell me everything you remember from yesterday?"

So I stayed down in the library for most of the day. Gajeel and Natsu checked in once or twice. It wasn't until dusk when we finally came out into the dining hall, exhausted from looking at so many books at a time. As soon as I got my usual from Mira, Juvia pulled me over to where she was playing for the whole day. Natsu and Happy were making fools of themselves as Chromium and Plue played some sort of handshake game.

"You look stupid doin' that, Flame-Brain," I taunted.

"Who're you callin' stupid, Ice-Head?" Natsu retorted, stopping what he was doing and headbutting with me.

Lucy rolled her eyes as we began to through random insults at each other. It wasn't long before we began to throw punches at one another. The celestial spirit mage declared, "Alright, stop before Chromi gets dragged into it."

Natsu replied, "The Ice-Perv started it!"

"And if you don't stop it then no more sleeping on the bed," Lucy countered, shutting up the pinkette once and for all. "Hey, why don't we all go out into town tomorrow? We haven't went out in a while, what do you guys say?"

"You sure, Luce?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, it'll be fun," Lucy reassured.

Gajeel answered, "Sure."

Levy contemplated, "Well… It'd be nice, yeah. But… Who'll look after Chromi? Besides, I got to do the research Gray asked me to do."

I said, "I don't mind. Besides, can't you just get Lisanna or Jet and Droy to watch Chromium?"

"Then it's a date," Levy decided, clasping her hands together.

Juvia perked up at the statement. A genuine smile creeped up on her face. Levy called it a _date_ and I guess it wasn't wrong of her. We were all different classes of couples, as weird as that was. She's been acting really weird with this whole getting sent into the future thing, so maybe it will be a… Date. Hell, we're getting married. _God_ it's still hard to comprehend!

We left fairly early that night with the Redfoxs. Again, weird to call them that. I once again took the couch, to Juvia's disapproval. She'll see, tomorrow I was going to up my game. Hell, we're probably going to have to live here, so we gotta start somewhere. However, for now, it was best to sleep separately.

( _AN: Quick thanks to the following: Everyone that is following and has favorited and reviewed because you're all amazing._ )


	6. Chapter 6

**~~~Chapter 6~~~**

( _AN: This story seems to be a little bit too tense, so how's about we lighten the mood a bit with a day out in town with the Dragneels and Redfoxs?! Gruvia, Nalu, and Gajevy of course. This note is a bit long, but I would like to apologize for the late update because of family and editing a FanFic that will hopefully be up by the end of the year. ~Dragon_ )

I was once again woken up by the glorious scent of breakfast. I would say that I could get used to it, but I pretty much already was. It wasn't like in the past Juvia didn't make me breakfast then too, just the smell was amazing to be coming from the kitchen just a room away.

We made our way to the guildhall after our silent meal. We weren't going to leave for the "date" until it was afternoon, so I took my usual place at the bar for my usual ice water. Juvia instantly went to Gajeel's table that was really just everyone's table, as Lisanna was sitting there to greet Juvia. Soon enough, the Redfoxs and Dragneels filed in to sit there as well.

Randomly, Mira asked, "What's up Gray? Are you and Juvia fighting or something?"

"No, why'd you ask?" I questioned back.

"Well, usually you'd be over there by now, I was just curious is all," Mira replied.

"Don't worry about it. We're goin' out tonight anyhow," I said.

Mira asked, "Oh, where are you going?"

I answered, "Don't know, it was Lucy's idea. I guess just around Magnolia. Got any suggestions, then?"

Usually, you would _never_ ask Mira for advice for where to go for a night out. Well, things were different now. We were already considered "couples" so what was the harm in asking Mira. She usually had good advice anyway.

"I think there was going to be a fair in a nearby town. You can catch a ride down and back easily from what I hear. That would be fun," she recommended.

"Cool, thanks," I replied.

The six of us left the guildhall around dinner time, so I guessed that someone had a place in mind to eat at first. Levy choose the place. It was nice and had about everything on the menu so we all found something to eat. Gajeel even knew the waitress and she brought him and Natsu scrap metal and some fire.

When we were done, I suggested, "Hey, Mira told me that there's some fair nearby. You guys wanna go?"

"Oh, yeah. That sounds fun. I think I heard about that too," Levy said.

So we left to go to the the fair. The place where I'm going to step up my game. My plan was that we'd be separated for a little while and start then. If we weren't separated, then we should at least have a good time. Above all, I wanted no water works.

When we got there, almost instantly we split up. Lucy being hauled away by Natsu, wanting to do some carnival game, and Levy and Gajeel decided to do the same. We decided to meet back at the same spot we parted by midnight at the latest. To say that I wanted that to happen so fast was a bit much, but I wasn't complaining.

"Well, let's walk around a bit. They'll probably be busy at the games for a while," I said.

Juvia nodded in agreement and we casually walked around the fair, taking in the sights of the festive people and boothmen. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders casually as we walked. Neither of us talked, but we didn't really need to. She seemed content with the silence, so I didn't bother with starting up some kind of conversation.

We walked by an empty game booth and I announced, "Hey, you wanna try?"

"Eh? Juvia isn't that good at these kinds of things," Juvia said, fidgeting.

"Come on, it'll be fun," I promised, pulling her over.

It was a game where you had to throw a bunch or rings at beer bottles and try to get a ringer. The green were one point, the brown were two, and the clear were five. You take fifteen rings and try to get at least that many points. My first two rings missed, but my third got around a green bottle. I handed my next to Juvia and she took a throw and missed. She fought back, not wanting to go again, but when she finally caved she got a ringer around a brown one. We split up the rings after that, taking turns between throws. In the end, we made it to eleven final points and a loss of five jewels.

"That was fun," I stated as we began to walk again.

"Yeah, but we lost your money," Juvia sulked.

"Hey, don't worry about it," I reassured. "You did better than I did, if I did it alone, I wouldn't have gotten as many points. You were good at that."

"Juvia didn't get many ringers, though," she said.

I rolled my eyes and put my arm around her shoulders again saying, "So? You got the most points. You ringed a clear bottle. Don't let the whole moving to the future and getting married thing get in the way of having fun."

Juvia answered, "Juvia won't."

"Good," I replied, pulling her over to another booth.

The booth was a shooting range. We had to use the small pop-gun like Asuka's and knock down all of the targets before the time ran out. I went first and wasn't able to knock everything down, leaving just four more targets when the timer went off. When I handed the gun over to Juvia she once again denied it.

"You'd be good at this, just try it," I said.

"Fine," Juvia caved, picking it up. She struggled with holding it, and I helped her prop it up on her shoulder. "Gray-sama?"

"Just aim, and pull the trigger," I instructed, releasing her hands but continued to stand over her.

She began and to my surprise she was actually very good. Enviously good. She shot every target that popped up and won the game. She seemed surprise at her feat but it soon turned into pride that she won. I pocketed the winning coins and congratulated her with my arm once again around her shoulders.

"I told you, you could do it," I said as we walked away from the booth.

"Juvia's sorry she doubted you, Gray-sama," she replied, fidgeting.

"Hey, no worries," I responded, hoping she wouldn't have some kind of emotional breakdown about it. I lowered my arm around her waist to pull her closer, just to be sure.

She looked surprised at first, but then settled into a mild flush of the cheeks. She asked, "Gray-sama?"

I answered with a "Hm?"

She shyly asked, "Is it okay if Juvia could…?"

Before she could finish, I said, "Yeah."

Juvia hesitantly wrapped her arms around my waist and I pulled her closer to me. She held a happy, content face and sighed in delight. I silently chuckled at how she acted. It was nice to have her fangirling again, as weird as that sounded. She seemed to be just an emotional wreck lately, and I really wanted her to just have a break from the stress of everything. As long as she was happy, everything would be okay.

"Juvia still doesn't know if she's dreaming," she stated honestly.

"Me neither," I agreed.

"It's nice," she said.

"Yeah," I replied.

It wasn't long before we came across a new game and decided to play. This one was more of a contest for who was the strongest. By punching a punching bag, a lacrima fed with energy would rise up on a board and tell us our prize dew to our strength. Natsu came out of nowhere before I could even start. Lucy came running to catch up behind him. Gajeel and Levy joined only seconds after Natsu declared that he would play, too.

"I'm gonna get the highest score, Ice-Freak!" Natsu declared with a flaming fist.

"As if!" I responded with an icy aura surrounding me.

Gajeel then added, "If you guys are gonna compete, then count me in!"

So Natsu went first getting the pointer three fourths of the way to the top as he used his Fire Dragon Iron Fist. I went second, getting only a few notches below Natsu using my magic to boost my fist forwards. Gajeel went next and rung the bell using his Iron Dragon Claw. The competition seemed rigged, even though we all held back our strength we used about the same amount of energy. It didn't really matter, but having Gajeel gloat about it pissed me and Natsu off.

"Gihi, guess you two are just too weak," Gajeel taunted.

"Oh, yeah?! I held back a lot of energy, pal! Just wait, I bet Lucy could knock Levy out in this thing!" Natsu retorted.

I added, "Well, Juvia was S-Class. I'm sure she could even whoop both your asses."

Lucy deadpanned and asked, "Um, would it count if Loke did this for me?"

"No! That isn't fair!" Natsu exclaimed. "Come on, Luce!"

"Fine," Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes at the pinkette. "But I'm using my Taurus form since you guys used your magic too."

Lucy's attire changed in a flash of light as she transformed. Her spirits powers could be activated in her when she did so and I knew that with the power up, Lucy could put off enough energy to ring the bell should she not hold back like the rest of us. The blonde wasn't even close to such power back in our past, but here she was an extremely strong Celestial Spirit Wizard. She stepped up and got the pointer to go mid-way.

"Great job, Luce!" Natsu complemented the blonde as she released her transformation.

Gajeel grunted and ordered, "Levy, you go next."

Levy sighed, "How did I know that this would happen at some point tonight?"

"Just do it," Gajeel rolled his eyes.

The petite bluenette stuck out her tongue at the tall raven-haired man as she walked up to the bag. She chanted "Iron" as the letters made out of metal appeared and slammed into the game. The pointer made it a few ticks above Lucy's, but was significantly weaker considering the fact that Levy didn't hold much power back. It was impressive all the same.

"Nice job, Shrimp," Gajeel said, ruffling Levy's hair as she came back to his side.

"Juvia's turn," Natsu chanted.

Juvia looked hesitant once again and said, "Juvia doesn't think that we should compare each other's strengths. Besides, it's not even that real since we're just holding back our powers."

Lucy encouraged, "Oh, it's not that bad. It's not like we're ranking each other. It's just for fun. Just try it."

"Yeah," Levy agreed.

"Okay," Juvia caved, stepping up to the bag and concentrated on her magical energy.

She released a force of water towards the bag and sent the pointer up the measure. She held back about as much as Lucy did and was even able to climb up a few notches above Natsu's marker. I let out a chuckle at Natsu's pout face as he realized the same thing. The night kept getting better and better.

"Awesome!" I exclaimed, raising Juvia's hand to declare her as the winner.

"Whatever, I still rung the bell," Gajeel said.

"I thought that wasn't going to count and we were going to go off of what the girls got," I replied.

Natsu yelled, "Yeah, right! Like we'd let you win!"

Gajeel growled, "What do you mean 'We', Flame-Brain?! Besides, our scores together are still greater than yours."

"Because you cheated and rung the bell!" Natsu yelled.

"How is that cheating?! That's how you play the game, dumbass!" Gajeel returned.

Levy sighed and declared, "Alright, stop it, the three of you. Everyone's a winner because we all held back our power, okay?"

Natsu sighed, "But that's no fun."

Lucy warned, "Natsu."

The pinkette answered disappointedly, "Yes, ma'am."

"Sorry," Juvia said.

I looked to her confused, "What do you mean? You did great."

"Juvia didn't ring the bell. She failed," she explained.

"So? I didn't either. Gajeel's just a jerk for not holding back as much as we did, that's all," I soothed.

"But…" she started to whine again, but I took her lips in mine to shut her up.

Her eyes were about ready to pop out when I released her and said, "You did great, now stop whining."

She nodded with glimmering eyes and the rest of the night went away with the booze that started at nine. So we were stuck in the future and were going to get married. Who cares? Live continues on, and life was good.

( _AN: Quick thanks to the following: Guest Reviewer for his/her lovely review._ )


	7. Update Announcement

**~~~Update Announcement~~~**

( _AN: Hey, guys. Sadly I will not be able to post anything for the next 20 freaking days :( ! This is kind of why I left off on a fun day at the fair. I am going on a summer vacation and I will not be able to update my chapters during that time. Even though I will not be posting, that doesn't mean I will not be writing, because I will still be working hard on the story. As soon as I can post again, all of the work completed (hopefully at least a chapter) will be posted throughout the day. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the story so far!_ )

"Wait, you're saying that you can't post chapters but yet you can still write? What kind of bullcrap is that?" Gray fumed.

" _I_ am going to be away for a while and I don't think that bring my laptop, full of many distracting games, is a smart idea," I answered.

Gray continued, "That doesn't make any sense! If you will have the time to write, then why not post?! I mean, what's with the whole not bringing your laptop or whatever?! What do you even use to write with then?!"

I sighed, "My phone, but it sucks to write on."

"If you don't wanna write on it, then why not bring your laptop?!" Gray questioned with the anime "Y" on his forehead.

"I don't know, because I'm stupid and you should punish me for it. I'm so lame," I whined to myself.

Juvia sympathized, "You're not lame!"

"What the Hell is happening, here?!" Natsu yelled.

"Why is everyone in my room?" I asked, deadpanning in my desk chair as I spotted at least twenty anime characters in front of me.

Gajeel exclaimed, "I don't know, but could you explain how there are three of mes?!"

"Four, actually," another Gajeel corrected.

"What is going on?!" Natsu declared, holding his head from thinking too hard.

I sighed, "And now all of my fanfictions are coming together into one. Why can't my brain work normally?!"

An OC character by the name of Lissa added, "It would probably help that you just focused on one fanfic at a time. Focusing on more than one thing really can't get anything done. How many times have you made my mom say that? I mean, I get that you get writer's-block and need a break from one so you move to the other, but you really need to at least finish one."

"I know, shut up other version of me," I groaned.

"You called?" another OC character in a hood said with a sinister voice.

Another Gray stiffened and questioned, "What's _she_ doing here?"

I answered, " _She_ is another figment of my imagination. If you ignore her, she'll go away."

"You will never be rid of me!" the OC announced and disappeared.

"Okay, I really gotta start numbering you guys! I can't tell which is from which Fanfic!" I exclaimed out of nowhere.

Lucy suggested, "Take your favorite fanfiction and call those number one, and so on?"

I cheered, "Great idea, Lucy number… Five? Sure, let's go with five."

Gray deadpanned, "But then I'm number five. I thought this story was focused on me, wasn't it?"

"Doesn't mean it's the best. A little too OoC for me, actually. It was just a sperm of the moment kind of fic. I _really_ love the ones I need to finish. My beautiful Snowflake, awesome Fairys and Dragons, and lovely Suffering Together," I answered.

"Suffering Together?! You haven't worked on that in two months, at least!" Gajeel the third roared.

"Shhh, they don't need to know that," I shushed.

Lissa questioned, "If Snowflake is your favorite, then how come you've been working on Fairys and Dragons so much until, like, three days ago? Okay, you haven't been working on Fairys and Dragons for a few weeks now, but still. You just started to edit Snowflake again three days ago after not touching it for months."

I answered not very enthusiastically, "Well, I kind of, sort of, maybe got a bit addicted to the fanfic that wasn't supposed to even make it past it's first draft. It's a good plot, though. So I hope it'll be fine. Hope for a finalization not long after Snowflake, too. And I haven't been writing because of stress reasons until it was released and this fic happened."

"Great to know that I wasn't _supposed_ to make it through the first draft. That warms my heart," Lissa said sarcastically.

"Hey, at least you don't need a number in your name!" Natsu whined. "Aw, it's already confusing. What number am I again?!"

I deadpanned, "Five. You're in this fanfiction. Though, I guess technically you're past Natsu number five if you want to be specific."

Gajeel number five grunted, "This is too confusing. Are you seriously goin' to post this as your update thingy?"

"Yeah, it's better than nothing, right?" I shrugged.

"Okay, I was created into this world and _I'm_ confused. Seriously doubt the readers will understand what's going on," Erza number two stated.

I contemplated, "Well… If Erza number two says that I need to organize things better, then I guess I should. She does know what she's talking about more times than not."

Lucy number two added, "Can you stop with the numbers at least? It's kind of offensive."

"But you were the one to suggest them," I deadpanned.

"That was another me, idiot!" Lucy the second exclaimed.

I sighed, "Fine. Only fanfictions One, Two, and Five will remain in my head. So I will only focus on these three Fanfictions for now, happy?"

"Aye," Happy number one chanted.

"There's still four Natsu's and mes," Second Lucy deadpanned.

"Too many Natsu's for you, Lucy?" I taunted. "Sorry, but I have to ship NaLu for life."

Natsu of the past questioned, "Na… Lu?"

Natsu of the future deadpanned, "We really need some kind of 'Ship Name'?"

"Hey, you're at least not shipped as hard as Gruvia," I stated, sending all three versions of Gray and Juvia to blush and gulp at the standing threat.

"I guess we have a name too, then," Levy the first gulped.

"I call you Gajevy, but sometimes some people say GaLe," I simply answered. Levy of one and two blushing a deep red as the other two fidgeted in their stance.

I sighed, "Well, I guess I should probably say goodbye then. But don't worry, there were little to no spoilers of anything in the blurb. Just my imagination taking over for a little apology… Story… Thingy… Yeah."

Gray the first added, "You better finish Snowflake soon, and make the ending good. I don't want Lyon stealing any of the fun, got it?"

I nodded, "Understood, Lyon will not come close to Juvia."

"That wasn't what I meant!" the first Gray bursted out with a blush.

"Sure, it wasn't," I replied with a cunning smile.

Gray… From this fanfiction… interrupted, "So, are you gonna sign off or what?"

"Oh, yeah!" I exclaimed. "Hope this was entertaining, and tell me if this is okay to do again should another vacation or something else come up in the way of updating for a while. Thanks for reading! Yours, Dragon!"

"Weird," Natsu the first commented. "And you're not a dragon."

"Shut up!" I returned.

( _AN: Quick thanks to the following: S_ _weet, sweet Guest Reviewer that made me super happy with their review. (And yes, the behavior of Gray is weird and is supposed to be that way._ ) ** _Baby pink 'n Baby blue_** _for fav and follow._ )


	8. Chapter 7

**~~~Chapter 7~~~**

( _AN: I'm back guys! The plot can continue and hopefully this chapter is edited :p. Sorry for such a long wait, but I am back and with a good amount of content! Also, this chapter introduces someone pretty important to Fairy Tail._ )

I woke up to find myself in bed this time, similar to how I woke up the first night. This time, I was prepared for just what and who I was clutching and didn't release. I nudged my face in the azur hair and hoped that she wouldn't wake for at least another hour. It felt so natural.

"Gray-sama?" her small voice called out. I groaned in response, holding her tighter before she continued, "Juvia wants to ask you something. Can Juvia?"

"What is it?" I replied, still tired and not planning on letting her go any time soon.

"Well, it's just that… Juvia thinks that this time's Juvia comes back to her sometimes and she was wondering if the same thing happened with you. She wants to know if that's why Gray-sama's so bold," she said.

I was dreading that question. I just hoped that my answer wouldn't trigger some kind of fuss or whatever. After a sigh, I answered simply, "Yes."

She whispered sadly, "Juvia knew it."

"It doesn't matter. Mine's been pretty quiet anyway. Why'd you ask? Is yours talking to you?" I asked in return.

"Yes," she answered.

"What's it saying?" I questioned curiously.

She responded, "That Gray-sama should do this more often."

I propped myself up and used one of my hands to push away her hair from her face to look at her better. I said, "Well, we are kind of getting married in three days."

Realization fell on her face and I chuckled. She murmured, "We are, aren't we?"

"Yeah," I answered simply and leaned towards her.

"Gray-sama, stop a second," she announced, turning herself straight and pushing her hands lightly on my chest.

"What?" I questioned confused. Why would she say stop? This is Juvia, she'd never say that.

She answered, "Tell Juvia what makes you do this, please. Juvia wants this, but she needs to know why you're acting this way."

I blinked a few times before guessing, "Instinct?"

"Juvia's serious," she said.

"So am I," I returned. "Look, we're getting married, so in order for that to work, shouldn't we up our relationship a bit? It makes sense to me."

"Juvia supposes it does," she replied, a smile gracing her face. "But we should probably go to the guildhall soon."

I sighed, "I guess you're right."

After rolling out of bed reluctantly, we got ready and went to the guildhall. When we got there we stopped in our tracks at the sight in front of us. The inside of the guild seemed to be in shambles with a certain redhead standing in the center of the destruction. It looked as though the Master returned to the guild to find someone fighting again and destroyed everything. She was just as reckless as the Saber Tooth master, Sting.

"Erza, you know we'll have to pay for that, right?" a masculine voice called out to the beast-knight from the sidelines. "Come on, I thought we talked about returning to the guild and _not_ destroying everything. It's _your_ guild, after all."

I followed the voice with my eyes and as soon as I saw the blue hair, I knew it had to be Jellal Fernandes. I guess that four years allowed the most wanted man in Fiore to become a citizen. Though I didn't mind the news, I did wonder what happened to Meldy since she and Jellal were together.

"Sorry," Erza apologize to Jellal and everyone else in the guild, stepping over to the bar to calm down.

"It's fine," Jellal said, sitting next to her with an arm around her shoulders. "Just don't over exert yourself. You're due in a few weeks, you know."

That was all I needed to remember the story. Erza and Jellal had been seeing each other secretly, and didn't announce anything until she was knocked up and engaged. The member from the magic council had joined Fairy Tail and with the news, he wiped out the memory of Jellal's criminal days to the council so that they could live together with peace of mind from the authorities. And that all happened about eight months ago.

I understood what Levy meant about telling Erza about the situation. It probably wasn't the best idea to tell her since she was insane with emotions. It wasn't that big of a deal anyway since we were probably going to stay anyhow with our memories still coming back to us of what happened during the time that we 'missed'.

The only thing that still bugged me was really just that event Gajeel freaked out about the first day. All of the memories were coming back, so why not those too? It was also apparent that I couldn't remember any kind of trouble or anything since the Magic Games, so either there were none or those were blocked too. The feeling was strange to not know what your own life was like for some years time. I could remember the past year, but as it goes farther the memories just fade out.

Knowing that greeting Erza was inevitable, I got it over with right away as we passed the bar to join our normal table. I greeted, "Hey, welcome back, Erza."

"Thanks, Gray!" Erza chimmed. "Hello, Juvia. Everything going well?"

"Perfect, Erza-san. Nice to see you," Juvia said.

"Great to hear!" Erza declared.

I nodded my head towards Jellal, who copied in exchange. I lead Juvia away from the bar towards our table, knowing that the girls would be gossiping and she would probably accidently slip about what happened to us. It surprised me that she hadn't told Lucy yet, but it was probably because she was asked not to. Sometimes that girl only understood words.

"Hibiki's here," Levy announced to me as she handed Chromium over to Juvia when we got to the table. "I'm going to pick him up from the train station. Watch Chromi for me?"

"Juvia practically does that every day," I chuckled. "Where's Gajeel?"

Levy pouted, "Probably still in bed, the bum."

I held back the snark remark that came to my head and asked, "Okay, are you guys going to be in the library or what?"

"Yeah, we're going to the few in town and come here with what we find," Levy answered.

"Alright, best of luck," I said as I watched Levy walk off to exit the building.

Lucy questioned, "So, what is this big project, Gray?"

Of course, all of the horrible questions today, hua? I answered, "Oh, don't worry about it. Something came up that I wanted Levy to search up for me, that's all."

"If it's not a big deal, then why's Hibiki here?" Lucy asked. "What's going on? You're not telling me everything."

"Your call, man," I said to Natsu.

Natsu exclaimed, "'S your problem, Ice-Face!"

I returned, "You're the one that said you didn't wanna tell 'er! So, you do it!"

Lucy asked frustrated, "Tell me what, exactly?"

"Juvia will say," Juvia sighed. "Come on, Lucy-san, let's go to the library. Chromi-chan, stay with Lisanna-san, okay?"

"M'kay!" the boy replied and smiled as he was handed over to the white haired maiden before the four of us disappeared into the library to talk in private.

"Don't tell me you're not going through with the wedding, Juvia," Lucy frowned.

Juvia shook her head "No" and the blonde sighed in relief. She announced, "Tenrou happened. Gray-sama and Juvia are from the past."

Lucy gasped and asked, "Really?! But… Natsu! Why the Hell did you tell them to keep that from me?!"

"Sorry, Luce," Natsu whinned. "It's just that… I didn't know if…"

"Just because I'm pregnant, that doesn't mean that I can't know this stuff!" Lucy declared, sending Natsu shivering in fear.

 _That_ was new information. Juvia gasped that time and asked, "You're really pregnant, Lucy-san?"

Lucy sighed, the vein on her forehead slowly disappearing, "Yeah, so we both have secrets to keep for each other. So anyway, what are we talking here? Months, years? How long?"

"Four years," I answered. "Grand Magic Games."

"Wait, and you're still going through with the wedding?" Lucy questioned surprised. "You know you don't have to, Gray…"

"It was my idea to go through," I confessed.

Lucy stopped and blinked a few times then asked, "Are you sure you're still Gray? Did you hit your head or something? I'm pretty sure that Gray from before all Hell broke lose would never have said that!"

Natsu commented, "They have select memories. They don't even know what Tartarus is, let alone my… You know what… Gray probably doesn't even know that he has Devil slaying magic!"

"I have _what_?!" I exclaimed.

"See," Natsu added.

"But, that only influences my point!" Lucy said.

I sighed, "Well, it's still me."

Lucy apologized, "Sorry, Gray, it's just a little hard to believe, that's all. I mean, who knew that you'd just be that acceptable of our future?"

"Yeah," Natsu agreed.

"Oh, well. So what? You're all ganging up on me for what? So I somehow in your mind turn into the 'Gray of the past' and hurt her?" I asked, pointing to Juvia. "Sorry, but I'd like to keep my head in tact and I'm pretty sure Gajeel wouldn't let it on for long should that happen."

"We weren't saying that, Gray," Lucy denied.

I growled, "Were thinkin' it."

Juvia said, "Juvia told you that you didn't have to do anything you didn't want to do."

"And I told you that we're going to go through with it!" I responded.

"Going through with what?" Erza declared from the entrance. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Erza. Don't worry about it," I said. "Come on, Juvia. Let's go."

Juvia looked apologetically to the three left in the library before following me out into the dining hall. Why did it seem like they were against me? Wasn't I supposed to be doing the right thing? Things were so much easier in our time, but we were probably never going back. The time when I could run away from these kinds of things are over, damnit. Even if we did go back, it wasn't like I could just go back to hiding again. Ah, why was this so frustrating?!

( _AN: Quick thanks to the following: gaara973, DeaR (Guest),_ _ **TTcouple**_ _,_ _ **Srobinso1**_ _._ )


	9. Chapter 8

**~~~Chapter 8~~~**

( _AN: Alright, chapter 8! This story has taken off a lot more than I would have ever hoped it would. Thanks guys! Writer's-block on this one, but I pulled through with some good stuff I was going to save for another later chapter. Sorry I couldn't update so soon, but with the help of my dear Guest 3 I pulled through. Also, just wanted to add that if any character seems a bit mean it's because we are in Gray's point of view so it sounds meaner than it really is. Long AN, sorry._ )

"Gray-sama, hold up for a second," Juvia called from behind.

I turned around and said, "No, but you can just stay here. Watch Chromium or something. I'm going home."

She returned, "Then Juvia will come with you."

After reluctantly letting her follow me, we made our way home. I knew what I was getting myself into. Why did it seem like everyone thought that I didn't?! We've been here for four freaking days. Yes, I was aware that it was only three more days away. This is a weird situation, but what else is new for mages of Fairy Tail? We adapt to our situation, so I did just that. What's so wrong about that?

"So?" Juvia questioned, following me into the living room.

"So what?" I asked back, not really in the mood to talk.

"Tell Juvia what's on your mind," she I replied.

I huffed, "Everything's all screwed up now all because we went on that stupid ass job. We still didn't even find the guy and now we're probably missing too. We ended up in the future, of course it had to be right before the marriage. And now everything's going to Hell."

She responded, "It'll work out somehow. Patience, Gray-sama."

I sighed, "I don't know what to even think anymore. I thought I knew, but now that the voice is gone I don't know what to think any more."

"What did your voice say?" she asked.

"To go through with it, but it's gone now," I replied frustrated.

She looked down with a sad expression, then lifted her head and said, "You don't know your feelings anymore. It's okay…"

I tried to interrupt, "Juvia, I didn't mean that we'd…"

She cut me off, "Let Juvia finish, please. We shouldn't do anything before our time. You still need to figure out how you feel, so we can delay for next year or cancel. Juvia doesn't want to marry you unless you are ready to, Gray-sama. But with whatever you choose, she will always be by your side."

"You don't have to…" I began but some part of a memory stopped me. I asked, "Stay by my side? Is that some kind of memory thing for you too, or is it just me?"

"Juvia could never forget," she answered sadly, wiping a tear threatening to fall from her eye.

"What is it? God, I feel so stupid for not knowing," I said, the mood completely changed.

She blinked away any tears and determination ran across her face as she declared, "Just promise Juvia that you'll never leave her again!"

A pit in my stomach dropped down. The year gap between the Magic Games and our first date. I had to leave on a mission for Erza without telling Juvia anything about it. I left for half a freaking year without warning or word to her during the entire time period. How could I have done that?

*Never do that.* I won't. *Never make her rain return.* I won't. *Never leave her side.* I won't. *She needs me as much as I need her.* We do.

"I promise," I answered. "I won't leave. Not now, and not ever. Not like that."

"Thank you," she sighed in relief.

I added, "I got my voice back."

She asked, "What did it say?"

"It sided with my opinion, so I guess that you're stuck with me," I answered.

"And you're stuck with Juvia," she said with a smile.

"Don't second guess me anymore," I said softly. The confused look graced her face, but it went away as soon as I kissed her.

"Juvia won't," she replied after parting and went in for another.

It became heated quickly as my arms wrapped around her waist and hers around my neck. Her fingers played in my hair the deeper the kiss became. My hands lowered to her ass and lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around me as she lifted into the air. I walked us over to the couch and lay her down, crawling on top of her myself to continue the kiss at full force. We barely had enough time to breath when we came up for air.

It was so passionate. Her lips were so soft and her tongue was so gentle. Every touch sent heat coursing through my body. She was amazing. I couldn't believe that it took going to the future to realize that. Well, more to grow a pair. But, either way, I knew now.

I don't know what took over me to be so bold, but I wasn't complaining. The voice was still me. We were one in the same. Even if I acted a little different, that didn't mean that it wasn't _me_ me. I guess I had to prove that to myself before I could convince anyone else.

Reluctantly, I came back for air and caught my breath. I panted, "Sorry. That was… A bit random. I don't know what came over me."

She replied, "Juvia… Doesn't mind."

"Good," I joked with a cunning smile. "How come I always think better with you around?"

She simply shrugged and pulled her arms around to feel at my chest. I sat up and took her hands before she did anything else. We may be getting married, but I'm not ready for _that_ yet. She didn't seem surprised or confused at my action and I was greatful for that.

"Come on, we should probably go back to the guildhall to clear the air," I said.

"Good idea," she agreed.

So I climbed off the couch and helped her up, then we cleaned up and went for the guildhall. We walked in hand in hand, but it didn't catch too many people's attention nor surprise. I didn't know what Lucy or Erza would say, but I didn't want to think of it until they said something. Juvia squeezed my hand before releasing when we got to the usual table.

"What the Hell was that all about?" Natsu asked.

"You have some explaining to do," announced Erza.

Lucy added, "We weren't going against you, Gray. Why did you think that?"

I answered, "Because I was against myself, but I'm fine now. Erza, don't worry about it. I'm fine."

Erza continued, "Juvia?"

"Everything's fine, Erza-san. Don't worry about it," the bluenette replied happily.

"Fine, as long as that wedding's still on in three days, I guess it won't matter," the scarlet haired maiden sighed in frustration.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," I added, not wanting to be on Titania's bad side.

After that we sat down at the table and everything was better again. I apologized to Lucy a few times, but she was cool. The day was a bit crazy, but it was back on course at the end. I guess that everything could only go better from here, right?

"Gray! Juvia!" Levy called, running from the side doors with a notebook in her hands…

( _AN: Quick thanks to the following: Guest, Srobinso1._ )


	10. Chapter 9

**~~~Chapter 9~~~**

( _AN: Oh boy, last chapter was a roller coaster. A real mess. Short with the AN today. Here we go, what's Levy gonna say? Short chapter, but two in one day! Sadly, Fanfiction wasn't working for me to post earlier today for no apparent reason :/ but here it is made up for!)_

"What is it, Levy?!" I asked, standing up with Juvia and walking to meet her.

"Come with me," the bluenette panted, turned on her heels, and ran out again.

I bolted after her with Juvia to my side and Natsu and Lucy following behind. Levy found something. She had to. We were probably stuck here. But then again, why would she run in and out of the guild like that?

Juvia asked as we came up to Hibiki and Gajeel, "What is it, Levy? Did you find something?"

Levy panted and caught her breath nodding. She answered, "Yeah, it's about that old abandoned house you came acrossed… Apparently a ghost has been spotted there many times before. It's probably what sent you here."

"Yeah, I figured that," I replied. "Can you reverse it? Because if not…"

"Yes, we can," Hibiki announced.

"W… Wait… You can?!" I exclaimed surprised. "But I thought that we were probably going to be stuck here forever or something. How'd you figure we can?"

Hibiki said, "The ghost of Evol sent you here, and she can send you back. There are many legends about her spirit. They say she sends people to different times to make them realize something important. Once they have realized what the thing is, they will be sent back to their own time. All you have to do is go back and meet this spirit again and you can go home."

Levy added, finally caught up of breath, "That is, if she thinks that you realized whatever she wanted you to."

"We'll try it," I said. "But we'll still exist here, right?"

"You should go back to how you were before you were sent here, yes," Hibiki answered.

I took a deep breath to take it all in. We could go home and our future selves can have their bodies back… Their lives back. But, Juvia probably doesn't want to go back. I can't just leave her here and go by myself. I'd never forgive myself. She may have the future me, but then what would I do while she lives here?

"Can we think on it for now? It's kind of a lot to take in. I kind of thought that we would be stuck here," I admitted.

"Sure, Gray," Levy cheerfully responded. "Just don't take too long, 'kay? Gajeel will take you up to the house of Evol tomorrow at eleven."

Natsu added, "I'll come with."

Lucy agreed, "Me too."

"Thanks, guys," I said.

I looked over to Juvia who stood still with a sad expression. I knew she wouldn't be thrilled with the news. So we parted ways as the day was slowly ending and made back to the house again. Chat number two, incoming.

Juvia muttered once we got inside, "Juvia doesn't know what to do."

"Me neither," I sighed. "I was kinda going on the idea that we would never go back. Kinda stuck now, hua?"

"Juvia wants to go back, but she wants to stay here too," she whinned as she sat down on the couch and pulled her feet up to rest her head on her knees.

I sat next to her. Of course she wouldn't want to go back. We were together here. Her dream come true. We have a lot to work out, but we're happy here. Yet, we were happy back there too. Just not in the intimate way… As in the _marriage_ part… And everything that would go with that…

"Yeah, I know. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Why are decisions so hard? I mean, half of what has happened is because we don't have a choice and in the end everything turns out fine. So either send us back or don't, right?" I rambled.

Gods, why was this so hard? Go back to the time were we know and experienced everything we knew. But stay here to what we learned to adapt to. To live in the life of experience, or the life of learning the past and going with what we got. To go back to the time were everything I do is actually a conscious decision than a vision, or live where the decision was already made before I had a conscious choice.

*Go home to experience the decisions made.* Yeah. *Past Fairy Tail will miss us.* Yeah. *Juvia will be alright once it's all over.* Yeah, I hope so. *If we don't go now, we will never return.* I know. *Everything will work out fine.* Right.

"If we don't go back, then our friends will never know where we went. Just like the guy we were trying to find. Besides, if we stay, then technically we are taking away this time's us's lives, right?" I reasoned.

"Juvia guesses so. She doesn't want that," she admitted sadly.

"Everything will be fine, I promise," I soothed, placing a hand on her shoulder in reassurance.

She looked up and nodded with a sad smile, "If Gray-sama believes so."

I nodded my head confidently, "It will."

After some silence, she fidgeted as her cheeks got pink and she asked, "C… Can Gray-sama sleep with Juvia again tonight one last time?"

"Sure," I answered.

 _(_ _AN: Quick thanks to everyone for viewing and sticking with me through my long summer vaca (And Guest as always).)_


	11. Chapter 10

**~~~Chapter 10~~~**

( _AN: I am sad that the story will be coming to a close soon, but don't worry. There are still a few chapters left of this story, and plenty more stories to come ^.^ .)_

I woke once again to the smell of breakfast, but this was probably the last time it will be made in the same house. It was nice, really. We were losing many things that we never had before. It was hard, but it was probably best if we leave.

Juvia announced at breakfast, "Juvia's scared."

"Of what?" I asked, shoving an egg in my mouth. Gods her breakfasts are amazing.

"What if we don't make it back?" she asked.

"What do you mean? Of course we will," I returned.

She hesitated and replied, "We made it here, but now we have memories. What if we go back and we don't have them any more? What if we get stuck in another time? What if…?"

I interrupted, "We'll make it, I promise. Stop thinking of 'What if' all the time. More times than not, what ifs don't happen. Now come on, we should probably go meet up with Gajeel."

"Alright," she sighed with a small forming smile.

Soon enough, we made our way to meet Gajeel, Natsu, and Lucy to the abandoned house. Thankfully Wendy was stronger and could give both dragon slayers Troia so they wouldn't gag the whole way there and back on the train. Juvia kept the same sad expression the entire way, no matter what Natsu and Lucy reassured. Even though I held her hand, she wasn't responsive.

Her behavior had me a little worried, but I tried to just pass it on as just nervous to go back home. I was, and I know she was too. Something else was bothering her, though. We had a lot to leave in the future, but we could have it all again back in the past. Did she just not realize that?

We walked up to the abandoned house in silence for most of the trip. The trail was a lot shorter than in the past, but that was probably because the town on the edge of the forest was much larger. As soon as the black, run down, ruined house came into view I gulped at the fact that we were so close to returning home. We stood in front of the house in anticipation yet with hesitation.

"See you on the other side, Snowflake," Natsu encouraged.

"Go back to your own time, guys," Lucy added.

I took a deep breath and asked Juvia, "You ready?"

She gave a small nod and I stepped up to the door, carefully opening the falling apart wood to reveal the same old and dusty place that held the key back home. As soon as we entered, the door slammed shut on its own again, and we were trapped. Juvia grabbed my hand, but I didn't make a move except look around for the familiar white glow of the ghost.

"Gray?! You alright?!" Lucy called out from outside.

"We're fine!" I called back.

"Fullbuster, you better take care of her! You hear?!" Gajeel yelled.

"Yeah," I replied more quietly as I looked around more.

The place looked exactly the same as before, but it felt different somehow. Maybe it was because Natsu, Gajeel, and Lucy were waiting outside? I shuffled forward in search of the spirit that was to take us home. There was nothing on the first floor, but there was an upstairs to check as well.

I exclaimed to the others, "We're going to check upstairs!"

Lucy replied, "Be safe!"

Cautiously, I lead the way upstairs on the old, rickety wood. At the top, I looked around at the mostly empty space that was mainly just remains of the roof that caved in on the structure. There was no sign of the spirit from before. I shimmied my way to the front of the building and looked over a broken part of the wall to see Gajeel, Natsu, and Lucy still standing outside.

"No good, there doesn't seem to be any sign of 'er except that damn door," I informed.

"Maybe we need to go down the road?" Lucy suggested.

Gajeel replied, "I doubt it. Just keep lookin', Stripper!"

I rolled my eyes at the nickname, but proceeded to check to make sure I still wore my clothing. Thankfully, I was fully dressed. Then I followed his advice and shimmied back to the stairs to return. Sometimes I questioned why they were my closest friends…

A loud creak sounded below me as I stepped down onto the stairs. I blinked and looked down, trying my best not to shift my weight. The board looked stable again, so I eased my foot on the the next one, warning Juvia of the stair and taking her hand just incase… Snap! The stairs we both stood on broke beneath our feet and we plunged down. I pulled her on top of me before we made impact with the floor.

I swear a few cusses slipped my mouth from the impact as I shifted up into a sitting position, pushing Juvia lightly off of me as I did so. Blinking, I realized that we broke through the floorboards and landed down in the basement. Slowly, we rose back up to our feet and looked around at our new surroundings that looked similar to the rest of the ruins.

"What happened?! Did something break?! Are you guys alright?!" Lucy and Natsu asked in concern.

"We're fine, just fell into the basement!" I answered.

A bright light shined in the darkest corner of the rectangular room and a voice called out, "You are being offaly loud. Ever heard of letting the dead rest? Humans these days have no respect."

We both gasped at the same time at the sight before us. The same white figure as before stood before in her full ghostly glory. Our mouths gaping open like fish, but not a peep coming out. The white dress of the ghost flowed as if there was invisible winds and the light coming off of the spirit was as if she was the moon itself. Her hair flowed similar to that of her dress in all angles and her face and what should have been skin was so pale it looked almost translucent.

The spirit continued, "Exceed caught your tongue? Speak now. What is it that you want from my ruins?"

I gulped, "You… We… We wanted to speak with you… A… About sending us back…"

"I'm listening. You must be wanting to return home now. Have you found what you were after?" the female ghost inquired.

"We… We don't know… You… You sent us here when we were on a mission. Looking for a man that we think wandered into this place just like we did. Can you please send us back home?" I explained shakily. It wasn't like she was the first ghost I'd ever seen, it's just that Mavis was just natural for Fairy Tailers…

"Perhaps," she replied. "That depends on your names. I have a hard time keeping track of the people I send back and forth between time."

Juvia answered nervously, "Juvia Lockser."

I added, "Gray Fullbuster."

The spirit nodded, "Ah, the Fullbusters. I remember you bunch now. Things are making much sense."

"Does that mean that we can go home now?" I asked.

"Pushy brat, aren't you?" the ghost questioned. "Yes, I remember clearly now. You were the one to wreck my house with your brilliant plain in slaying your demon. Maybe I shouldn't let you go home. As fair punishment for locking me up here for my life. But I guess it would be more suiting to take one of you with me. The bluenette will do nicely."

"Over my dead body," I snarled, standing protectively in front of Juvia.

"I was hoping you would say that," the spirit chuckled and fazed into thin air.

I readied my stance for anything, looking frantically back and forth in the space we were trapped in. This was getting worse and worse as the time went. Why on Earthland would a ghost be made at me, of all people?! It doesn't make sense! She couldn't have died to Deliora, could she?

A gasp left my mouth as a bright light filtered over us both and I grabbed at Juvia, hoping that I could shield her from whatever was to come…

 _(_ _AN: Quick thanks to the following: Guest because every time you review you make me cry that you think exactly how I hope you would ^.~ )_


	12. Chapter 11

**~~~Chapter 11~~~**

( _AN: Cliff-hanger, sorry but I had to. The chapters are getting shorter, but that's okay because the end is coming ever closer and drawing it out might make it last longer ;P .)_

Whatever happened, I blacked out for it. I shifted and squinted my eyes open to the bright light of the spirit. Juvia's unconscious body in my arms as I sat up and shielded her from any harm. I looked over my surroundings again and found it to be nearing nighttime as it was darker than before with the exception of the glow of the spirit in the corner. Maybe some of the house changed too? We were at least out of the basement and on the main floor.

"Get up," the spirit commanded as Juvia squinted her eyes to the light.

"What makes you think that we should listen to you?" I asked, but did so anyway as I went into a defensive stance in front of Juvia.

"Calm down, Fullbuster. I lied to get on your temper. It was a test. You passed. You are home now," the ghost answered. "Now get outta my house!"

I didn't have to be told twice as I lifted up Juvia onto her feet and headed towards the door that was swung wide open. I sighed once we were outside the vicinity of the old ruins. There was no Gajeel, Natsu, or Lucy of the future waiting for us. Just a large meadow that lead to that cabin we started the job in.

"Back to the past," I sighed.

"Yeah," Juvia sighed as well, leaning on a rock nearby and sitting on it for support.

"That's enough crazy adventures for one month, thanks," I joked, sitting against the same boulder.

She remained silent then replied with a disappointed, "Yeah."

I looked confused to her to see some tears in her eyes and asked, "What's wrong? You alright? You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, Juvia's fine," she responded, looking away.

"How am I supposed to believe you when you're crying?" I questioned further.

"We didn't finish our job. We failed," she replied.

Something told me that that wasn't all she was upset about, but a noise in the distance drew away my attention. I would address her later on the matter. As soon as whatever is in the distance passes. So I just said that not every job was successful as I tried to concentrate on the noise.

It came once again, but this time it came loud and clear as shouting, "Gray?! Juvia?!"

"Natsu-san?" Juvia questioned as she looked up towards the direction of the cabin.

"Gray! Juvia!" the pinkette exclaimed as he came barrelling down the meadow towards us with Erza and Happy hot on his heals. Lucy, Wendy, and Carla came running up from farther behind.

I asked, "What are you guys doing here?"

Lucy panted, "Looking for you… Duh… You were gone… For a week…"

Natsu asked, "What happened to ya?"

"You had to have run into troubles since you took so long to complete your mission. Would you care to explain?" Erza inquired.

"Slow down, geeze," I stated. "We were a bit… Tied up… But we're back now. And we didn't complete the mission."

"But the man you were sent out to find came back two days ago. When you both never returned after the man returned, we came out looking for you," Erza explained.

Juvia said, "He is? Juvia's glad."

Lucy asked, "You didn't know?"

"No, like I said: we were a bit tied up there for a while," I answered.

"Tied up in what?" Natsu asked.

"It doesn't matter now," I responded.

Erza concluded, "That's fine. We know that you are safe now. That's what counts. Come on, let's return to the guild."

So we did. Returning to the guildhall back in the past was a bit weird to not see a tall Wendy or just everyone crowding around Gajeel's table and the fact that the guildhall wasn't different was weird too. To be honest, I didn't want to tell the others that we were in the future because then what would happen if I did? Everyone would ask about it, obviously, but then they'd know. If they knew, then wouldn't it change the future or whatever because Lucy probably would distance herself or do something stupid like that at least.

Juvia walked over to Gajeel, so I just followed to do the same. We were back to the past, but honestly there still wasn't much but the guild that was actually missed. The future was really nice. It would happen, and I'll make sure of it. Just now I can fix my mistakes before they happen. Who wouldn't want that?

"You're back," Gajeel stated. "What happened to ya? Stripper get ya in trouble?"

"Very funny," I rolled my eyes.

"So, why's he here anyway?" Gajeel asked.

"Gajeel-kun, don't be rude," Juvia said. "Juvia and Gray-sama were… Trapped for a while. It wasn't Gray-sama's fault."

Gajeel looked suspicious and questioned, "Trapped how? What, did you lock you both in some room for a week?"

Juvia huffed, "No."

The intimidating dragon slayer sneered and stated, "So that's why your Stripper's still able to stand in your presence."

"Gajeel-kun!" Juvia complained then sighed, "Juvia will explain later."

"What's this whole, trapped thing anyway?!" Natsu declared from behind, pushing Elfman away from his latest brawl in the guild and walking towards us with Lucy, Happy, and Erza following behind with nodding heads.

I sighed, "We're gonna have to explain, aren't we?"

"What? You're gonna tell Medal-Face, but not us?" Natsu taunted.

"I hate you, you know that?" I frowned at the pink haired dragon slayer.

Erza inquired, "Well?"

Juvia hesitated and played with her hands together embarrassed of the attention. So much for keeping the future to ourselves. Everyone would have to know now. Perfect. Just what I needed, to spill what happened there so it won't happen here. We were there, so we know what it's like but they weren't. If I push them off, then they will only ask more and more until we break.

I caved, "Fine, we were sent to the future."

Lucy looked surprised and asked, "Really? What was it like?! Am I, like, a super famous author with, like, billions of fans around the world?!"

"Relax, we're not telling. Just think about it. If we told you what happens, then it might never happen," I explained with my hands up in defense.

"You have a good point," Erza agreed. "But that doesn't make us any less curious about your adventures there. How were you sent? You can at least answer us that."

I answered, "A ghost. Her name was Evol. She lived in that creepy, burnt down house."

Mokarov came out of nowhere and questioned, "Who was the master? I assume you found the guild there."

"A redhead," I said through gritted teeth.

"Gildarts or Erza?" Master asked excitedly.

"I ain't tellin' ya that!" I yelled.

Natsu declared, "What was I like?! Did we brawl and every time I'd win like always?"

Gajeel growled, "Ya, right!"

Juvia and I deadpanned as I answered, "You're definitely quieter in the future… And thankfully smarter too. Kinda wanna go back now so I don't have to listen to your stupid voice."

"Hey!" Natsu exclaimed with a flaming fist. "You wanna go?!"

And so started the longest day in the guild. Not because of the usual drinking and partying. Because of the constant questions and Natsu's constant flames in my face. Never thought I'd miss Natsu, but I miss the future Natsu. Or maybe it was just the future in general? Lucy was a pain, but I guess she couldn't help it. Gajeel was actually bearable since he was a father and all. I guess the bright side was that Erza wasn't the master, nor pregnant, so she was at least much better. Well, better is a strong word. Endurable? That's more of the word I was looking for.

 _(_ _AN: Quick thanks to the following:_ _ **ShizukaPamela**_ _, Guest-kun. If you were curious about shoutouts, look at my profile and I'll tell you there!_ _)_


	13. Chapter 12

**~~~Chapter 12~~~**

( _AN: I don't know what to say. I am super siked up about finishing this piece, my Gregory-sama and I are gonna play some WolfQuest… Life is good. Flip Flop time!)_

I didn't leave the guild until midnight and Juvia already had left a few hours before. As weird as it was to go to _our_ house in the future, it seemed weirder to go home in this time. My house looked as if a tornado came through compared to the future. I sighed and went to bed, though not much sleep came. It was an exhausting day, but I couldn't sleep for more than ten minutes at a time before waking up again. Soon enough, I just decided to get up to wear myself out so that I could just pass out. I was going to do some training, but decided on cleaning up some instead.

Sleep did come, but not until after I cleaned about three fourths of my house. I was about to leave for the guildhall when a knock was at my door. I blinked in surprise but answered it and found it was Juvia. She fidgeted when I opened the door and looked embarrassed down at her feet. She was always so cute when she did that.

"Yo, what's up?" I asked.

"Nothing, never mind," she answered quickly and began to scurry away.

I grabbed her arm and called her back. She stood reluctantly still. Something was up, because normally she would have done something overly dramatic if I did that. Even in the future! Was she angry at me for some reason? We decided to come back together, but maybe she just held her tongue on the matter?

"What's wrong?" I questioned.

"Nothing," she replied.

I growled, "It's not nothing because you seem upset about something. So, what is it?"

She sighed, "We're in the past now."

I nodded, "Explain. I thought we agreed to come back."

"We did, it's just that…" she mumbled then exclaimed, "Gray-sama won't love Juvia anymore, okay?!"

"What makes you say that?" I continued.

"You don't have your future voice, so you don't know your feelings anymore," she concluded.

I looked skeptically at her. How did she figure that? Oh, right, _that_ time. Gods she's gonna want me to explain, won't she? Great, just what I need. Another chance to screw up because I can never get the point across when I talk to girls… Well, mainly just her. Ah, here goes…

"Remember when Hibiki told us the legend of Evol? How he said that she sends people into other times to realize something? Well, we're back now. So we had to have realized whatever she sent us there for. And you know what I realized?" I began and she shook her head. I answered, "This…" then leaned in and kissed her.

She looked wide eyed and questioned, "Gray-sama?"

I rolled my eyes and scolded, "What did I say about second guessing me?"

"Juvia won't," she shook her head and smiled. I loved it when she smiled.

"Good," I said and took her lips again. They were just as soft as in the future, but better because this time she wasn't in some other self's body but her own.

"Juvia loves you, Gray-sama!" she declared when we broke apart.

I responded in her ear, "I love you, too."

With that, she tackled me down in my living room with a hug that could have rivaled a boa constrictor. But it was okay, because I finally confessed my way. Not some future boldness because we were getting married, not just accepting her love for me, but my way. This time, I started us. The times have already changed, but I guess it's really for the better.

"I promised in the future that I would never leave you, and I'll say it again. I will never willingly leave you without any notice, Juvia. I promise," I whispered into her ear.

Sure, it was weird going to the guildhall and having to deal with everyone crowding around with questions about the future and why we held hands more times than not, but it's worth it. She's worth it. And it took going all the way four years into the future to figure that out. To be honest, it's about time.

 _(_ _AN: Quick thanks to everyone that gave their support and viewers who do what they do. Sad that this story is over, but with every end comes a new beginning. If you want a continued story, just drop a review and maybe an extra chapter will appear! Until next time! ~Dragon)_


	14. Reverse to Forwards

**~~~Update~~~**

( _AN: Update, baby!)_

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT! Wait… This story was over!" Gray exclaimed.

"Well, yeah," I replied. "It is. Though something just needed to be said."

"And that would be…?" Lucy pressed quizzically.

I jumped on my toes and cheered giddily, "There is going to be a continuation!"

Gray questioned, "Why? We already went through your stupid plot. What could possibly going through your confusing brain now?"

Juvia added, "Does this mean that Dragon-chan had many reviewers that asked for a continuation?"

Embarrassed, I said, "Well, not really. But in my continuation to come out by the name: Reverse to Forwards, it's not going to be focusing around my lovelies. This time, I'm going to focus on my third favorite paring. Though, there really isn't a plot like this baby, the progression should suffice as the plot."

"So, you have it written out already?" Lucy asked, a bit nervous as to what's to come.

"Halfway there, but I'll take any suggestions!" I cheered.

"Please don't let me endure motion sickness," Natsu begged.

"That will be the least of your problems, but I will consider your plead," I gleamed evilly.

Levy asked, "Maybe some side character plot?"

I smirked evilly, "Oh, don't worry Levy. This is going to be a three parter series, I believe ( _don't hold me on that please_ ) and I plan on having all top three of my ships sailed by the time I'm done."

Levy shines a bright red, "I just suggested it to keep the story interesting! Not because I wanted… Gah!"

I returned, "Too late, baby-cakes. You're already involved in the background. I've made up my mind."

"Hey! Don't go gettin' us involved in somethin' stupid! Besides, didn't you say that you would consider writin' a second to that other fanfic you started?" Gajeel fumed.

"Yeah, for Easter Bunny. Although I truly appreciate my reviewers that wished for that continuation, I haven't really received much inspiration for it. Don't forget my other pieces that I hope to get out before the end of the year but will most likely have to wait passed new years. Writing other stories inspires me for different stories. My brain works off of writer's block as though as soon as one story goes dry of ideas another idea sprouts. I try to use that to my advantage by 'using up' my imagination on one this so that I can empty my mind as to focus on another story I had already started on. This takes a lot of time though…" I admitted.

"You veered way off topic there," Lucy deadpanned.

"Not again!" I whined.

Gray said, "She's trying to say that she's working on this so that she can work on her other fanfiction."

Natsu yelled, "That doesn't make any sense at all! How do you work on one thing to get another thing done?!"

I exclaimed, "I don't know! Don't hurt me!"

Erza interrupted, "Before this gets way out of hand here, what's this sequel about?"

"Oh, yeah! Nalu, of course! Flip Flop was Gruvia, Reverse to Forwards is Nalu, and Small Giant will be Gajevy! Reverse to Forwards is going to be Lucy's perspective of how Gray and Juvia's trip to the future changed the present, for better or for worse. In the future, the different members of the guild had all changed due to different occurrences that they had endured. However, with the knowledge that Gray and Juvia learned from their visit, the universe went a bit off kilter so to speak. Natsu being the first to be affected by this strange happening. You'll have to read the story to find out how and why he was affected at all," I excitedly explained.

"So, what you're saying is that we screwed up time," Gray confirmed.

"Yup," I answered with a large smile. "Don't worry, you're not the first. My Trunks did that even _in_ the cannon. I guess that's what has been my true inspiration for this whole scenario in the first place."

"Who?" Lucy asked.

"Dragon Ball Z, Trunks Briefs. Don't worry about it, you'll meet him in Fairys and Dragons. But that's not too important at the moment. The point is, a new fanfiction is coming out and it's based off of Nalu and will have _plenty_ of Gruvia and Gajevy in the background," I replied. "So, see you guys when that is out!"

 _(_ _AN: My recognitions will be in the first chapter of Reverse to Forwards, but I love all of you just the same. The link will be updated as soon as the first chapter is released so stay tuned! Thanks a bunch! ~Dragon)_

 _Link:_ _s/12135833/1/Reverse-to-Forwards_


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